


From zero to hero

by AzraelOverlord



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-11-27 13:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18195110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzraelOverlord/pseuds/AzraelOverlord
Summary: -----His hand joins hers that supports the small head and in her sleep, she smiles, “See? It’s like she is saying: Don’t worry, old farts, I’ll be just fine.”, he jokes and she manages to chuckle despite the pain she is feeling in her heart.-----





	1. A couple in a thunderstorm

**Author's Note:**

> Been sitting on this one for a while, couldn't decide if I should post it or not. Well, as you can see, I've made my decision.
> 
> No promises on regular uploads, but if you want to subscribe and join me on this journey, promise it won't be boring.

**10 years ago**

A thunderbolt cracks across Row’s sky, illuminating the street and two figures in heavy raincoats that are running through it. Heavy rain and howling wind batter their bodies. No one in their right mind would be on the streets of London now. Yet these two are. One is holding a small bundle close to her chest, the other holding his arm across her shoulders to somewhat shield her from the winds and rain as they make their way through the dark streets. Street lighting would normally do its job but it was shut down due to possible Omnic night air raids.

“Hold on honey, we are almost there!” he shouts over the howl of the wind. She nods back and they press on. Despite weather doing its best to hinder them, they reach their destination. A massive wooden gate of Church of St. John the Baptist towers in front of them.

“We’re here.” the man says, then pounds the gates with his fist so that anyone that might be inside is sure to hear.

The woman kneels and looks down at the bundle in her arms. A small peaceful face is all that is visible from the blankets wrapped around it. And despite the storm, eyes are closed in serene sleep. She then turns her head to look at her husband, tears rolling down her cheeks, a silent plea in her eyes.

He joins her in kneeling, “I know honey,” then puts a comforting arm around her shoulders, “I know. I love our little angel just as much as you do. But,” he shakes his head, “we both know that she will be safer with them.” She looks down at the small face, as he continues, “We made many mistakes in our lives. She is not one of them and doesn’t deserve to pay for them. These people will keep her safe. The War is almost over.” His hand joins hers that supports the small head and in her sleep, she smiles, “See? It’s like she is saying: Don’t worry, old farts, I’ll be just fine.”, he jokes and she manages to chuckle despite the pain she is feeling in her heart.

“Yes? Is anybody out there?” a voice that echoes through church’s empty halls calls from inside.

The man bangs on the doors in confirmation, “We got to go.” then urges his wife one more time as he hears the steps from inside coming closer.

After she steeled her resolve by taking a deep breath, she ever so gently lowers her right next to the door, “Goodbye sweetie,” and with shaking hands, she fixes her blanket for the last time, “Stay safe.” and tucks a letter for whoever finds her. They then turn and run around the corner and into the dark street.

Not even a moment too late as the doors unbolt and an elder priest pokes his head out, “Hello? Anyone out there?” He scans the nearby street with a flashlight. “Damn kids,” he grumbles. Then just before he could close the door a small cough from below gets his attention. He lights up the source and her face grimaces on reflex from sudden illumination. “Now who do we have here?”, he says and picks her up in his arm. He brings her inside and lowers her on his bed. “Oh, what might that be?” he notices the letter tucked in her blanket. Taking it out and opening it, he sees that it contains only one sentence: “Her name is Lena Oxton.” He tucks it away in his pocket and looks down at her peaceful face, “Hello Lena, my name is Father Winston.”

 

A couple of blocks away, the couple stops running to catch their breath, but it was not to be. “There they are!” somebody shouts from the nearby street, pointing at them, “Get them!” shouts another.

Despite being utterly exhausted, legs heavy, as if made from lead, they start running again. Determination now burning in their eyes and hearts in knowledge, that even if they catch them, their daughter, their greatest treasure is somewhere safe. They look at each other, a smile on both of them and hand in hand they start running even faster into the rainy night of King’s Row.


	2. Notorious Lena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \------
> 
> “ _Shit, busted_ , Look!” she shouts, eyes wide and points at something behind the Officer’s back, “That dog is shitting on the sidewalk.”
> 
> But the Officer doesn’t buy it, “Best you got?” and straightens, crossing her arms.
> 
> “I’m not kidding, look!” but Lena presses on, “It’s taking a massive dump **right** there!” and keeps pointing.
> 
> Officer gives up and turns to look, despite knowing it’s nothing. Probably. “Sucker!” Lena giggles and takes off waving goodbye and melts into the crowded sidewalk, disappearing in seconds.
> 
> \-----

**Present-Lena is 10 years old**

“Cheers love,” Lena runs up to her friend that is sitting at her desk writing something in her notebook and starts making a mess of her crimson locks, “What’cha doing?”

“Lena stop,” she shouts back, trying to wriggle her head out of Lena’s hand, “You know that it takes forever to make any order of these.”, she cries out.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Emily,” she wraps her arms around her shoulders, “I’ll help you brush ‘em for ya.” then lightly pecks her on the cheek before letting go and sits down next to her.

“What wrongs must I’ve done to get you as a friend?” Emily exhales, only to hear a thud on the desk and Lena whimper like a puppy. She turns to her direction but sees nothing. She looks lower and can’t help herself but melt when she is met with Lena’s upturned eyes, “Awwww.” She lets go of her pen and runs her hand through Lena’s brown locks that are, as always, all over the place. Somewhere mid that, “I’m working on my homework,” she tells her and Lena stops breathing and freezes on the spot. “You finished yours already, _riiiight_?”, she stretches the I’s with a coy smile. 

“I just remembered that I got something to do.” Lena tries to get up and make a run for it,

“Oh no you don’t.” but Emily has a firm grip on her head and pushes it against the table. Lena goes for the cute look again but Emily won’t have any of it. “Not this time.” she shakes her head. “G’wan, fetch your stuff. I’ll help you do it.” she gestures towards the door with her head then releases Lena’s head.

**2 weeks later**

“OXTON!!!” a shout roars from the neighboring street.

“Ups gotta go.” A small girl with white dyed hair chirps, just putting finishing touches on her graffiti. Lena has become quite notorious in both a good and bad way. Good was that she was liked by anyone she met. Her cheery personality and helpful nature melted even the stoniest hearts. Bad one came from the fact that she liked to play pranks. They were harmless but troublesome. This time, she added a few of her touches on the butcher shops mascot he has painted on his window. Thin mustaches, a black barrette and added blue lines to his clothes so that it turned into a fat Frenchman. She runs around the corner when she hears him shout, “Oxton, you are dead when I catch you!”

She can’t help herself but poke her head back around the corner to look at him, “That’s the trick in’nit?” she grins, “Gotta catch me first,” gives him two finger salute, “Ta!” and bolts away. The butcher only bitterly smiled and went back to his shop. Everyone that knew her, knew all too well that someone short of a professional sprinter can’t catch her. She liked running. What’s more, she liked running at full speed. Dodging the other pedestrians on the sidewalk came as second nature to her and she zigzagged between them so fast that before they even realized what passed them she was long gone. If someone asked her why she’s running, she couldn’t point out any particular reason. The best one she had was that she loved the feeling of wind in her hair. Next one would perhaps be that she loved moving fast. She was trying to think of another but an arm in a dark blue sleeve blocks her path like a ramp. She ducks to skid beneath it, spinning around to look at the arms owner while skidding in reverse to a stop. “Hullo, Officer,” Lena greets her with her signature smile.

“Hello, Oxton,” she returns it. “Up to something again?” The Officer narrows her eyes, scanning Lena top to bottom.

“Me?” Lena mocks being shocked while hiding a can of spray paint in her hand behind her back. “Psssh, never,” and waves off the accusation.

“Mhm, sure,” the Officer leans closer. “Then what are you hiding behind your back, huh?”

“ _Shit, busted_ , Look!” she shouts, eyes wide and points at something behind the Officer’s back, “That dog is shitting on the sidewalk.”

But the Officer doesn’t buy it, “Best you got?” and straightens, crossing her arms.

“I’m not kidding, look!” but Lena presses on, “It’s taking a massive dump right **there**!” and keeps pointing.

Officer gives up and turns to look, despite knowing it’s nothing. Probably. “Sucker!” Lena giggles and takes off waving goodbye and melts into the crowded sidewalk, disappearing in seconds.

“Oh, Lena,” Officer smile gently, seeing her disappear, “One of these days someone will eventually catch you. Pray it’s me. Others might not be so kind.” She talks to herself then turns and continues her patrol.

What Officer was saying couldn’t be further from Lena’s mind if she tried. Giggling as she went, she kept running, zigzagging through pedestrians. She fully intended heading straight home but when she turned a corner to a square she noticed a gathering. “What’s going on here?” she wonders and walks closer. Not seeing a thing from the rear end of the gathered crowd, she starts to push through it. “…Overwatch…Morrison…speech…” are a few of the words she catches while wriggling her way to the front, elbowing more than just a few to prevent being squished. She finally makes her way to the front after a minute of hell, but trips on something and rolls well out of the crowd. Absolutely sure she didn’t trip on her own, “Which fucking wanker tripped me?” she curses getting back on her feet. She gets one foot under herself when she feels a hand on her shoulder, “Let go, you git.” She bolts upright and spins around to see who got too grabby for their own good. With anger still simmering in the back of her head, she looks at him with eyes thinned into slits, “You tripped me?” 

“No, little lady,” he shakes his head, “I merely attempted to help you get up.”

Lena hated and loved being short. Hated when others pointed it out, loved when her small build came handy when she needed to squeeze into small places and when she was running from being caught. “Oi!” she points her index finger right into the taller man’s face, “Who are you calling little,” she gives him a good look over. Nice blue uniform, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a circular emblem on his right shoulder. “Boy scout?” she finishes her sentence and a Hispanic man who stood a few steps behind him chuckled at what Lena called the man, so she shoots him a wink and a smile, which he returned with a nod, before refocusing on the man in front of her.

He lightly pushes Lena’s hand away from his face, who then crosses her arms and keeps him locked in her sight, “Do you know who I am, miss?”

Lena grimaces as she thinks of an answer, then remembers seeing that emblem before, “You gits are Overwatch.” The man beams a smile, but his face falls when Lena continues, “A bunch of would-be heroes who sit on their arses, twiddling their thumbs, thinking we should treat them as gods just because they had a hand in stopping the Crisis.” He tries to stop her, but when Lena gets going, she doesn’t stop until she said her piece. “Shit lot that did for us. Omnics are still being kicked around. Row’s is so bad that some call it the shithole of the planet. And you did what to improve it? Fuck lot of nothing that’s what. So take your shiny badges, fake smiles, and fancy speeches and shove ‘em where the sun doesn’t shine.” Properly steaming now, she is a hair away to start redecorating the man’s face with her fists and she can see his brow twitching. 

“That so?” he asks instead, crossing his arms.

“Mhm.”

“Hm,” he rubs his chin, thinking something. “Would you,” he points at her with his index finger, “be willing to come to our base and see the so-called _would be heroes_ for yourself?”

His 180 takes Lena by surprise, “Why would I do that?” but she manages to keep her composure. “LENA, GO FOR IT!!” somebody shouts from the crowd. “Oi! Don’t be giving my name away like that, you stupid git!” she shouts back then turns to face the man again. He has a shit eating grin on his face. “Fine. I’ll bite.” she reluctantly accepts his offer.

“Great. Take this,” he pulls a business card out of his pocket and offers it to Lena, “Go to that address and show it to the lady at the front desk.”

She swipes the card out of his fingers and reads what’s written. ‘ _Strike Commander Jack Morrison-Overwatch_ ’ Beneath which an address is written. She pockets the card and looks back at Morrison, “When?”

“Tomorrow is fine.” He answers.

“’Kay. See you then. Bye.” Having enough of the whole thing she turns away and disappears into the crowd. When she finally made her way through it, she can hear the Morrison fella giving a speech, “Cheeky git,” she mumbles to herself and starts running back home.


	3. Emily, the match, then everything else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> Emily stops next to the hanged jacket, looks at it then back at Lena and asks with a coy smile, “What’s the magic word?” 
> 
> ‘ _Cheeky_ ,’ Lena chuckles, then flips herself on her stomach facing Emily and giving her a dose of puppy eyes, “Pretty pleaseeee?” She adds a head tilt to increase their lethality, her locks bouncing, only adding to the cuteness factor. 
> 
> \-----

Lena bursts through the front doors in full sprint, nearly crashing into Father Winston, who grumbles something about her fashion choices but still smiles warmly. Next, she comes by Emily, who startles when she barrels at her from behind and wraps her in a hug and chirps a hello to some of the others she meets on her way to her room. Her shoes fly off her feet like two projectiles, where they land Lena doesn’t care. She knows she’ll be looking for them tomorrow but that’s a problem for tomorrow’s Lena. Her black, studded jacket lands perfectly on a wall hook when she tossed it, joined soon by her goggles at which she smiles then jogs to her bed and spills on it. “Haaaaaa,” she exhales, sprawled on the bed when someone knocks on her door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” a voice, belonging to her favorite person in the world, responds.

“Come in. It’s unlocked.” Lena invites her in, feeling too relaxed to get up from the bed. Remembering something when the doors open, “Hey Em,” she lifts her head to look at her, “Be a gal and grab something from the upper left pocket on my jacket.”

Emily stops next to the hanged jacket, looks at it then back at Lena and asks with a coy smile, “What’s the magic word?” 

‘ _Cheeky_ ,’ Lena chuckles, then flips herself on her stomach facing Emily and giving her a dose of puppy eyes, “Pretty pleaseeee?” She adds a head tilt to increase their lethality, her locks bouncing, only adding to the cuteness factor. 

“Haha,” Emily laughs, does what she was asked and walks to Lena, sitting down next to her. “Worked far better with your natural color and without the piercings.”

“Maybe,” Lena rolls on her back and nuzzles into Emily’s thigh, “But you still love me.” A face wide grin shows on her face while saying that.

Emily rolls her eyes, her hand reaching to ruffle Lena’s dyed white hair. “You make it hard not to,” she leans down and plants a kiss on her forehead. 

Lena giggled then reaches for the card Emily took from her jacket, “Gimme.” Once in hand she gives it a read again then a tired sigh escapes her.

“What’s that?” Emily, still caressing Lena’s scalp asks.

“Nothing much,” Lena offers the card to Emily, “Just this bloke Morrison invited me to visit the Overwatch base here in London.”

“Bollocks?!” Emily’s eyes go wide from the news.

“Nope,” Lena chuckles at her reaction, “Going there tomorrow after the lectures.” and offers the card again, “Is who gave me that card.”

Emily looks at the card now in her hand, then at Lena, then back at the card. A grin slowly creeps up on her lips, “Lena Oxton,” she looks back at her, “Overwatch hero. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

Lena explodes in laughter, thinking it’s the most ludicrous thing she ever heard, “Hahaha,” she rolls from side to side on her back, clutching her stomach. “Me? Haaa,” she catches her breath, “A part of that lot? Not in million years.”

Emily knows full well the reasons behind Lena’s reaction so she doesn’t push it, but tries a different theme, “If not that, what then?” She returns the card back to Lena and looks at her with one of her signature teacher looks, “What do you plan to do in the future?”

“Mmmm,” Lena holds still for a better part of the minute. Then a smirk shows up on her face as she looks at Emily, “Running mail, married to this cute redhead I know and owning a small apartment somewhere in the Row’s.”

“Good plan.” Emily nods, “But what if the said redhead leaves before you have a chance to marry her?” she jokingly asks not expecting Lena’s reaction in the slightest. 

She jumps up and hugs her, burying her head in her chest, “Don’t even joke about that, Em.” Her voice colored in deep sadness and when she looks up at Emily's face, she can see tears starting to well in Lena’s eyes. She grips Emily in a hug like it’s a matter of life and death.

“I’m sorry,” Emily hugs her back and slowly caresses her scalp. They stay still for a minute and just when Emily decided to tell her to let go she can hear her softly snoring into her chest. She carefully unwraps her arms from around her and gently lowers her on her bed. She manages to tuck her in without waking her and plants a kiss on her forehead, “Goodnight Lena.”

“Mmm,” Lena smiles at first, then grimaces and her breath hitches, “No. Don’t go Em…” she mumbles in her sleep.

“I’m right here, sweetie,” Emily cups her cheek, caressing it slowly with her thumb. It seems to work as Lena beams a face wide smile, snorts and calms down. Her breathing is back to normal. Emily keeps it up for a couple of minutes then leaves for her own room.

 

The next morning Lena’s eyes flutter open when the beeping of her alarm clock pulls her out of her dreams. She slams it off, “Bloody thing,” and crawls out of her bed. “Then one who invented them should be shot dead on the spot,” she grumbles as she grabs her morning set and walks to the common bathroom. “Morning,” she mumbles, sleep still heavy in her head but once she sees familiar red locks her eyes go wide as she remembers something from last night and barrels at her. She hugs her from behind and buries her face between Emily’s shoulder blades, “Still here,” she whispers. 

Emily caught that and runs her hand along Lena’s forearm to reaffirm her words, “Get ready. You got a big day ahead of you today.”

Releasing her, Lena squeezes next to her in front of the same sink even though there are a few that are unoccupied. She giggles as she bumps hips with Emily while brushing her teeth and she bumps back. Timing it so that when Lena spits out the water and toothpaste, half of it misses its intended target. Other girls in the bathroom with them laugh and take a few steps away when Lena says, “Oh, it’s on now.” with a grin. Next thing, she cups a handful of water and splashes it on Emily's face. Her eyes go wide from surprise at first, but thin into slits and she smacks the water flowing from the faucet so it sprinkles Lena. They both start laughing, but Lena uses the distraction to gather water in both of her hands and splashes Emily again. Other girls get hit by Emily’s retaliation and soon the bathroom explodes into a water war. When a Sister that manages the girls part of the church’s orphanage comes to check what is going on, they are all drenched from head to toes, laughing and giggling as water continues to fly through the air. She was just about to say something when a handful of water Emily aimed at Lena, hits her in the face. Her squeak as she gets startled, getting Lena’s attention. “Oh shit.” she curses when she sees water dripping from the Sister’s face. That all too familiar scowl showing up as she wipes the water off with her hand.

“Girls,” she calls for their attention, voice soft but stern and they all know that the fun time is over right then and there. “You got 10 minutes to clean this mess and no telly tonight.”

All but one nod without another word. “But Sister, the match is on telly today,” Lena complains as she was already a vivid soccer fan and if she could help it, never missed watching a match of her favorite team. But when Sister only smiled back she knew she can’t tonight. Well, that doesn’t stop her from trying to do it anyway. There is always the pub. Sure she can’t drink anything alcoholic but ever since the fans that gather there first saw how enthusiastically she cheers and follows along with the songs with full heart, the owner and all the patrons that occupy it during the match days let her stay with them and on more the one occasion carry her back to the orphanage when she falls asleep like a log as soon as the match ends. “Sorry if you guys get in trouble over this, but,” she lowers her posture and gets ready to bolt right past Sister who also knows that she has little to no chance intercepting and stopping Lena if she runs for it. Lena takes off but a voice calling for her makes her step on the brakes right away.

“Even me, Lena?” Emily asks with a mock sad face.

Lena turns around and walks to Emily with a lowered head. Once there, she hugs her and nuzzles into her shoulder and says with a gentle voice, “No. I will never get you in trouble.” Emily only smiled and hugged Lena back. A collective, “Awww,” echoed through the bathroom and even Sister’s face softened. Lena still doesn’t give up on the match and cranes her neck so she looks at Sister again. “Could I still watch it, please?” she pleads with upturned eyes.

“I probably shouldn’t let you,” Sister crosses her arms then held a scolding finger at her, “but if you behave today and do all your homework and come and show it to me, you can.”

Lena’s eyes light up and she unwraps herself from Emily only to bolt at Sister and wrap her in a hug, “You’re the best, Sister.”

“Geez,” Sister rolls her eyes and scruffs Lena’s damp hair a bit, “But remember. Only if homework is all done. Okay?”

“Mhm,” Lena hums and squeezes her hug a bit, “Homework all done and show it to you. Gotcha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for lack of updates on Death of Lena Oxton but this one occupies my head at the moment. Promise I'll update before the week is out.
> 
> Hope you guys like this one just as much. ;)


	4. Lena and the Law.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “Honestly,” Lena walks by Officer side. “I could run there and back but the match is on telly tonight and I want to get back with time to spare.”
> 
> “Watching it in the pub again?” Officer asks, aware of Lena’s trips to the pub to watch the matches on occasions.
> 
> \-----

“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Lena curses when she fails to wave in a taxi for the third time. They seem to see her at the start but then steer away. She decides to walk to her destination while wondering why won’t they pull over. Turning the corner, she spots somebody that might be able to help her and she starts running, eyes shining with new energy and a face wide smile joins them. “Officer, Officer!!!” she shouts as she closes in, barely believing that she is running towards her for a change.

She hears her, stops and turns, “Oxton. This is an interesting development.” And comments as if reading Lena’s thoughts.

“Right?” She nods when she stops next to her. “Anyway, can you help me please?” Lena turns on her puppy eyes.

Quirking an eyebrow, Officer asks, “Me? Help you? With what?”

“Don’t be like that,” Lena really dials up the cuteness by wiggling her foot as if trying to dig a hole into the sidewalk. “Just need a ride.”

“The only ride I want to offer you is one that ends with you in the brig.” Officer muses but when Lena's eyes go even wider from the shock of hearing that she softness her expression. “But you rarely ask for anything, from what I hear. So, where are you headed?”

Pulling out the card from her jacket, Lena offers it to Officer. “Here.” She points at the address written on it when Officer takes hold of it.

“Overwatch HQ?” Now it’s Officer’s turn to be shocked. “You,” she points at her, “need to go there?” Lena’s opposition to everything involving them is well known in the Row’s and Officer heard about her giving Morrison an earful yesterday.

“Mhm,” Lena nods. “Can you believe it? That Morrison lad just up and invited me over yesterday.”

“Strike Commander Jack Morrison, leader of Overwatch, invited you,” Officer gestures at Lena with her head this time, “to come over?”

“Yep,” Lena shrugs. “And even after I told him what he can do with his medals and speeches.”

“Shove ‘em where the sun doesn’t shine?” Officer repeats Lena’s words with a chuckle.

“You heard about that?!” Lena giggles, “Yeah. Real proud of that one.”

“And you still want to go there?” Officer asks.

“I accepted the invitation,” Lena answers. “Would be right rude if I didn’t go over. Right?”

“I guess you’re right,” Officer responds then returns Lena her card and invites her to walk with her to her car. “I can see why you asked for a ride. It’s on the other side of the city.”

“Honestly,” Lena walks by Officer side. “I could run there and back but the match is on telly tonight and I want to get back with time to spare.”

“Watching it in the pub again?” Officer asks, aware of Lena’s trips to the pub to watch the matches on occasions.

“No,” Lena shakes her head, “I made sure I can watch it back home before I left.” They reached the car and the lights blink when Officer unlocks it with her keycard. “Uuu, fancy ride.” Lena comments it then chirps, “Shotgun!”

“And here I thought I would give you a taste of the back seats,” Officer comments with a chuckle as she walks around the car to the driver side.

“But I’m such a good girl,” Lena pokes her head from the side to look at her over the hood.

“That’s highly debatable.” Officer jokes, shooting Lena a wink. After Lena returned the wink with crossed eyes and sticking out her tongue, causing them both to laugh, they get in and start driving towards the Overwatch HQ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit on the short side of things but as it wraps the scenes neatly I didn't feel the need to extend it.
> 
> Hope you like it anyway.
> 
> Overwatch HQ coming in the next chapter. Is it ready for Lena? Is Lena ready for what she will see there? Stick around and find out. ;)


	5. Watchpoint London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \------
> 
> “Oh, shut your gob.” Lena punches him again, a bit harder this time, plucks the card out of his other hand and walks towards the main building.
> 
> “Enjoy your stay!” he shouts behind her, scratching the spot where punched him. “Not half bad for such a bean sprout.”
> 
> \-------

“Here we are,” Officer pulls up to the ramp that blocks the entrance to the Watchpoint and a guard is already approaching them.

“Thanks for the ride,” Lena thanks her, unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the doors to exit the car.

“Hold on a mo’, speedy,” but Officer stops her.

“Yes?” Lena stops and looks at her, holding the doors open, on foot already outside.

“Please stop with your pranks for at least a week.” Officer kindly asks her.

“No promises,” Lena winks and fully exits the car.

She was just about to close the doors when Officer adds, “Lena, please. My boss is riding my ass hard about you as is. If you don’t lay low for a bit, I’ll have to take you in next time I see you.”

Lena pokes her head back inside. “Guess I could…” then a grin shows up, “be more discreet.” And shows the Officer her tongue then with a giggle closes her doors and walks to the guard.

“I tried,” Officer shrugs and reverses away from the ramp.

“Good day, young lady,” the guard addresses Lena when she walks closers.

Lena looks back at the police car that’s pulling away then points at it when she looks back at the guard. “The Officer is leaving. Just dropped me off.” She says, thinking that the guard meant Officer and not her.

After chuckling, “I was talking to you.” He gestures at Lena with a gentle smile. “Now, how may I help you?”

“Gosh,” Lena’s cheeks go warm a bit, she was never addressed so kindly or respectfully before. “I’m no lady for one and,” she pulls out the card, “this Morrison bloke invited me over when I saw him yesterday.” And shows it to the guard.

He takes it and looks at it, “Seems okay but I’ll have to call this in to make sure it checks out.”

“Sure, but step on it.” Lena agrees, “Got a match to catch tonight.”

“A match?” he knits his brow, reaching for his radio.

“Soccer. My team is playing tonight and I have yet to miss a single match.” Lena explains. “Not planning to start today.”

The guard’s eyes seem to light up a bit when she says soccer and he seems to realize something but he is already busy with his radio, “Central, this is Main Gate. Got Lena Oxton here. She says she was invited by Strike Commander.” Lena eyes him suspiciously because she never told him her name.

“Main Gate, this is Central. We have a note that she might be coming by. Let her in.” A response comes over his radio.

“Copy that.” He responds then clips his radio back on his shoulder and turns his attention to Lena. “Don’t eye me like that. Saw you a few times in the pub where I go on occasion to watch a match or two with my lads.”

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place, you git?!” Lena beams him a smile and playfully punches him.

“Didn’t recognize you right away,” he laughs and gestures with his hand at how small she is, “You sort of blend in.”

“Oh, shut your gob.” Lena punches him again, a bit harder this time, plucks the card out of his other hand and walks towards the main building.

“Enjoy your stay!” he shouts behind her, scratching the spot where punched him. “Not half bad for such a bean sprout.”

 

Lena waves over her shoulder and enters through the doors, disappearing from his view. Her eyes wander the big atrium they have for the entrance then find her current destination. Front desk. She walks there, “Hullo.” And greets the lady with way too much make up for her taste.

“Miss Oxton?” She looks at her above the rim of her glasses.

“One and only.” She nods and offers the card like she was instructed by Morrison.

‘ _Not my thing to tell._ ’ The lady thinks for a second then takes her card, picks up her phone and starts dialing. 

“Morrison.” A man’s voice answers.

“I apologize to disturb you sir, but Miss Oxton has arrived.” The lady explains the reason for calling him.

“Ah, yes. Tell her I’ll with her in a few minutes. She can look around the atrium while she waits.” Morrison tells her.

“I will pass the information. Have a good day, sir.” The lady responds then hangs up and turns her attention to Lena who is already eyeing the different displays. “Miss Oxton.”

She snaps her head back at her, “Yes?”

“Strike Commander will take a few minutes to join you. He asked that you wait here and can look around the atrium while doing so.” The lady informs her and passes the card back to her.

“Gotcha.” Lena takes the card back and puts it back in her pocket then beelines towards a picture that caught her attention as soon as she entered. Her eyes wander over ten figures that are in it. “He’s such a boy scout.” She chuckles when she spots Morrison but her attention is caught by someone else next. “He was there yesterday too. The hood makes him look pretty badass. I like him.” She smiles then continues to look at others. “Bloody ‘ell! This guy is huge!!!” she curses when she spots a big man standing behind them all yet still towers over them. “And is this bloke wearing a cowboy hat?” she nearly doubles over in laughter. “What is this? Wild West?” When she manages to calm down she spots a lady with a tattoo under her eye and is holding the shoulders of a small girl in front of her, “She is really pretty and this one too.” She points at a younger lady with bright hair that is hunched over a grumpy looking man with a big beard.

“Founding members of Overwatch,” a man’s voice says behind her.

“Holy fuck!!!” catching Lena completely by surprise.

He needs to lean back to dodge the small fist that was coming for his face. “Wow! Hey, easy there.” Morrison raises her arms in surrender. “Sorry for startling you.”

“Ups,” she responds. “Sorry, but in Row’s, you swing first then ask questions.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t need your apologies,” Lena shoots back, “Fix it. You got a big fancy base here.” And gestures over the entire atrium with her arms.

“We are doing what we can.” Morrison says first then when he sees Lena’s eyes narrow he adds, “Or perhaps better said, what we are allowed to do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lena crosses her arms.

“It means that there are rules and laws we have to follow and we can only offer to help. But if they refuse to accept it, we can’t do much.” He answers.

“Bloody suits!” Lena punches her palm with her fist, figuring out right away who he meant by them.

“It’s unfortunate, yes.” Morrison nods with a sad expression but lifts his spirit right away, “But we can’t solve that problem standing here and you are not here for that anyway. So, how about that tour?”

“Right,” Lena nods, her anger dissipating and her scowl replaced with a smile she has an idea. “Any chance I could meet this big guy?” She points at the biggest man in the picture.

“Ah, I see Lieutenant Wilhelm caught your eye.” Morrison smiles. “He is here yes. I think that currently, he is having lunch in the cafeteria.” He spots Lena’s eyes sparkle but he asks anyway, “Want to go there?”

“Yes, please.” she quips and jumps in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess we know who she is meeting next. But will he be the only one? I bet that Reinhardt is not having that lunch alone. And a little birdie told me that a Strike Commander is a really busy person. ;)


	6. Commander Reyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “Yeah?” a man answers.
> 
> “You busy?”
> 
> “That depends.”
> 
> “I need you to continue the tour of the base for young miss Oxton.”
> 
> “Who is she?”
> 
> “The one from yesterday.”
> 
> “Short one who gave you a piece of her mind?”
> 
> “That’s the one.”
> 
> “On my way.”
> 
> \-----

Lena and Morrison are on their way towards the cafeteria and he can’t help but keep smirking as she is absolutely barraging him with questions about the people in the picture, seemingly totally forgetting what her opinion about them was just a day before. “So, so, the big guy is cool but I think that the beardy with a hood pulled over his head is even cooler and can I meet him too?”

“The guy in the hood?” Morrison fakes ignorance to have Lena describe him a bit more so he finds out what she thinks about him.

“Yeah,” she nods then continues. “I think he was with you yesterday, a matter of fact, I’m sure he was there.”

“You probably mean Commander Reyes,” Morrison answers her this time.

“Could be. There is something else,” she taps her chin, remembering that she saw something different. “Oh, right!” she quips when things click in. “The emblem on his shoulder was a bit different than regular Overwatch. What’s with that?”

“Good eye.” Morrison compliments her. “He leads a…” he tries to figure out a word that would satisfy her but not give out all that much. “Let’s call it a special squad.”

“Hmmm,” Lena narrows her eyes as she gives him a sidelong look. “All hush-hush stuff?”

“You could say that, yes.” He nods but just as she wants to reply a call comes over the speakers.

“Strike Commander Morrison, please head to your office right away. There is an important call for you.” A digitalized woman’s voice says.

“God da--” he wants to curse the high heavens but stops himself because Lena is right next to him. 

“Tour cut short?” Lena grimaces, feeling disappointed but understands the situation.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I promised you one and you are getting it. Just not with me as your escort.” Then he slams his fist into his palm when an idea hits him. “Right! You said you like Commander Reyes, right?” he asks her.

“Well, yeah. He looks cool enough.” She shrugs in response.

“Then I’ll call him to keep you company. One moment.” He pulls out his cellphone and dials.

“Yeah?” a man answers.

“You busy?”

“That depends.”

“I need you to continue the tour of the base for young miss Oxton.”

“Who is she?”

“The one from yesterday.”

“Short one who gave you a piece of her mind?”

“That’s the one.”

“On my way.”

Morrison rolls his eyes as she hangs up and pockets his cellphone. Lena caught it and overheard the conversation he just had. “I’ll just wait here.” She is barely keeping her laughter down and needs to bite her lips together to do so.

“Good.” Morrison nods and starts walking back the way they came. “He should be here under a minute.”

“Mhm,” she hums, nodding in response, biting hard on her lips to keep them sealed. Praying she holds it down until he turns the corner and hopefully out of earshot. Her eyes follow him until they can, ‘ _Will you step on it?!? I’m being polite here._ ’ She screams in her mind for him to haul ass because as much as she would like it, it’s not nice to laugh in people’s face. At least that’s what Father Winston said. She lets it rip the moment he turns the far corner though and nearly doubles over, laughing so hard.

“You’re certainly a cheerful one.” A different voice that comes from the other end of the hallway says.

“Heya,” she waves a hello because she heard him coming and wasn’t startled this time. “Yeah, I overheard your conversation and it was just too funny.”

“You know that he is never living that down.” Reyes chuckles as he walks closer.

“Living what down?” she asks, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

“You telling him off like that yesterday.” He answers. “This whole base knows, thanks to yours truly,” he points at himself. “And no one is too shy here to not tease him because of it.”

“Glad I could help with your entertainment.” She smiles. “I knew I’ll like you.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” he quirks an eyebrow.

“Well, you look badass for one,” she starts, “and you seemed like you enjoy and understand a good joke.”

“Thanks. Now, where were you two headed?” he inquires. 

“To cafeteria. To meet Lieutenant Wilhelm, I think that’s what he called him. The really biiig guy.” She stretches her arm as far up as it goes and stands on her toes to demonstrate how tall he probably is.

“He is taller than that and it’s this way.” Reyes chuckles and points over his shoulder with his thumb and they start walking that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so much fun to write young Lena. Like I can take what we know about her from official lore, dial up the cuteness and fun factor to max and beyond and get away with it. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it too.


	7. Gentle giant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> He tried hard and stretched his arm to its maximum range but he too, like many before him, learned that when Lena bolts, there is not a sliver of a chance of catching her. So he just shakes his head as he chuckles and follows her with normal walking pace.
> 
> \-----

Reyes and Lena enter the cafeteria that is moderately packed with base personnel as it is lunchtime but neither have trouble spotting their target. What Lena does next turns quite a few heads. “Bloody ‘ell!!” she curses loudly as soon as they are through the doorway. “You were right, mate. He is even bigger than that.” Few of the heads that turned follow her line of sight and only chuckle when they see who she means then continue with their lunch. He tried hard and stretched his arm to its maximum range but he too, like many before him, learned that when Lena bolts, there is not a sliver of a chance of catching her. So he just shakes his head as he chuckles and follows her with normal walking pace. But then his brow knits when she disappears out of sight and he is nearly at the table where Reinhardt is sitting down next to Jesse, with Ana, Angela and little Fareeha sitting on the opposite side. Looking more closely at the close vicinity he soon spots her. She decided to sneak attack the big man as is currently crawling below the table behind him. 

He is not the only one to spot her though and justifying her renown of a sniper with sharp eyes, Ana has seen her too. But not willing to spoil her fun, she only decides to prepare her friend for the inevitable. “Reinhardt,” she calls for his attention with a warm smile and when he looks up from his plate. “Stop eating for a moment and prepare yourself.”

He knits his brow, “Prepare myself for what?”

“Just play along.” She shots him a wink. 

And in the next moment, Lena pounces on her target. Reinhardt’s back. Arms wrapping around his neck, her head on his shoulder. “Gotcha!” she quips with a giggle.

Being the gentle giant they all know him to be, he does play along right away. “Oh, no!” he raises his arms, “I have been caught. Someone, help!” and shakes side to side gently, mimicking an attempt to shake her off. Others at the table laughing at their shenanigans.

“Not a chance, buster.” Lena grins and wraps her legs around his torso to emphasize her words. “Only one way to get rid of me.”

“There is?” Reinhardt mocks relief, craning his neck to look at her. “Do tell.”

“It’s simple, really.” She smiles. “Get up and walk over there.” She points to a large space between the counter where they pick up their lunch and the first row of the tables.

“This won’t end there,” Angela comments with a giggle when Reinhardt stands up and gets a grin and a wink from Lena when she heard her.

Lena needed Reinhardt to move to a more opened space because, if she is right in with what she plans next, she in most cases is, he will start to squirm hard. And if he did it while still sitting there, that table and a few neighboring ones would topple over. “I am here.” He reports when he is standing where she pointed out.

“Good.” She smiles. “Now, tell me. Are you familiar with the story about David and Goliath?” Lena asks, fighting the urge to start laughing.

“Where the big and mighty Goliath was defeated by a small David?” He asks in return and when she nods, “I am. Why?”

“Well, I mentioned them because it’s you.” She answers but when she continues, her voice comes from behind his back, “You are the Goliath.” Lena slid lower down his back and let go of his neck so she can use her arms. “And you are going down!!” she shouts and starts tickling him as hard as she can. 

It’s very effective. Reinhardt’s laughter thunders across the cafeteria and he is on his knees in seconds and on his flank soon after but didn’t lay on his back as he didn’t want to squish her. But he didn’t need to fear for her because she is agile enough to move around and was in front of him before he realized and she gently pushed him on his back so she can climb on his big chest. “I surrender, I surrender.” Reinhardt gives up on his attempts of trying to catch her after she dodged his arms with impressive agility every time.

“Another victory for Lena!!!” she quips with her arms raised high as she kneels on his chest.

“Yes, you did little one, you won.” He smiles, wiping the tears that formed in the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard.

She quirks an eyebrow when she hears the little part but, “You know what? I think _you_ can actually say that.” She nods firmly and smiles, moving off of him.

“Say what?” He picks himself off the ground, “Little one?” and guesses correctly which part bothered her.

“Mhm,” she hums. “Usually I don’t like others pointing out my height but I think in your case, everyone is little.” She giggles when he stands up to his full height and she needs to crane her neck just to follow him with her sight.

“Mmm,” he hums then remembers something. “Where are my manners?” He smacks his forehead then offers Lena a handshake, “Reinhardt Wilhelm, at your service, little lady.” He winks with a goofy grin when he says the little part.

Lena rolls her eyes as she takes him up on his offered handshake, “Lena Oxton,” and keeping up with his style, “pleased to make your acquaintance, m’ lord.” She finishes her introduction with a slight bow and a curtsy.

The clapping and laughing from the rest of occupants of the cafeteria who got interested in what is making Reinhardt laugh so hard and watched them makes the duo aware of them. And after they laugh for a bit, they face them and bow as if they just finished a show then walk to the table where Reinhardt sat before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You had to see this one coming. Lena, full of energy and an endless supply of ideas for pranks and someone like Reinhardt willing to play along with them. 
> 
> There are a couple more at that table that Lena has plans with so this scene is not quite over yet. Care to guess who her targets will be? I hinted at them when she arrived. ;)


	8. Overwatch London HQ cafeteria part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “I will have you know,” Angela leans over Lena’s shoulder, “that I can be very strict too.”
> 
> After looking straight into her eyes for a moment or two, Lena starts to shake her head, “No. I don’t believe that.”
> 
> “I am.” Angela insists then points at the man sitting next to Reinhardt, with her arm. “Just ask him.”
> 
> \-----

As they approached the table Reinhardt continued to his seat but Lena adjusted her course and headed to the opposite side of the table. “Heya kid,” she greets Fareeha and scruffs her hair and giggles when her arm gets swatted away with a groan. She continues on. “Ma’am.” She nods at Ana when their eyes meet as Ana kept her eye on Lena, but she walks past her too. She stops next to Angela.

“Hello, Lena,” she greets her with a gentle smile and offers a handshake.

Lena shakes hands with her but doesn’t let go only gestures for Angela to lean down. When she does she pecks her on her cheek and compliments her, “You are very beautiful.” when she straightens back up, cheeks a bit rosy from the kiss and an honest compliment.

“And I’m not?” Ana quirks an eyebrow, chuckling at Lena’s stunt.

“You are,” Lena cranes her neck to look at her, “but you’re a mom and look very strict. I’m not messing with that.” Her attention shifts back to Angela and she opts to climb into her lap and plops herself into it, “But this lady looks very gentle and not strict at all.”

“I will have you know,” Angela leans over Lena’s shoulder, “that I can be very strict too.”

After looking straight into her eyes for a moment or two, Lena starts to shake her head, “No. I don’t believe that.”

“I am.” Angela insists then points at the man sitting next to Reinhardt, with her arm. “Just ask him.”

Lena tracks her arm and stifles a laugh when she sees who Angela is pointing at then points at him too and looks back at Angela, “Him? You serious? I’m supposed to believe someone who wears a cowboy hat at this age and time?”

“Hey.” Jesse groans in response but it doesn’t stop Lena from adding on her comment.

“Seriously, where did you guys pick him up?” Her sight travels from Reinhardt to Ana then back to Angela, “Some backwater farm across the pond? He looks and sounds like a Yankee.”

“Good guess,” Gabriel sits down next to Angela and offers the soda he went to pick up to Lena. “It was backwater, but it was a bar, not a farm.”

“And I am an American,” Jesse adds, not disputing Gabriel’s claim that the Deadlock place was a dump.

“Thanks,” Lena first thanks Gabriel for the soda getting a nod in return. She pops it open and takes a drink then looks straight at Jesse. “Seriously mate, what’s with the cowboy getup?”

“I just like it, alright.” Jesse groans, can’t really be angry at Lena.

“Cowboys were good with revolvers, right?” Lena decides to stop teasing him and tries another angle.

“That’s right.” Jesse’s eyes get a glint of happiness in them. It could be his chance to show off.

“So, got one?” Lena asks and takes a long sip from her soda.

“I do.” Jesse nods, a big smile on his face, but, “I got it…” his face plummets like a rock when he taps his hip holster and finds it empty. “right here?”

Lena is still taking a sip from her soda can but now spins something on her finger on her other arm. It’s a revolver. A big one. A Peacekeeper. She lowers the can when she sees that Jesse looked at her, “Looking for something, love?” a big grin stretching her lips.

“How? When?” Jesse’s face is a perfect example of total confusion.

“Just before I jumped the big guy,” Lena answers and puts the gun on the table and slides it towards Jesse.

“Watch it, Lena,” Angela scolds her, “Keep this up and you might end up in Blackwatch.”

Lena cranes her neck to look at her, and thumbs towards Gabriel, “With him as my boss?” Angela nods, thinking she will be scared of it, but, “Where do I sing up?” Lena beams her a face-wide smile. “He is far cooler than that boy scout.” She adds and resumes drinking her soda.

They are all aware who is meant by that and they all laugh but then Lena leaning forward on the table and looking towards the counter gets their attention. “What are you doing?” Angela asks. 

“Recycling,” Lena responds and chucked the now empty soda can towards the counter and when they follow it through the air they see she hits the trash can that is located at the end of it.

“Well done.” Reinhardt thunders his compliment.

“Can you even see the trash can from where you are sitting?” Jesse points out something that makes her throw even more amazing.

“Nope,” Lena shakes her head, “Just know it’s there from when we walked there before.”

“That’s amazing, Lena.” Angela hugs her. 

“Thanks, love.” And Lena nuzzles into her forearm for a bit.

“Bet she can’t do it again.” Fareeha quips when she gets jealous of Lena for hogging all the attention.

But Lena is not one to take something like that lying down, “What was that, kid?” and she leans on the table to see past Ana.

“I said that you can’t repeat that throw.” Fareeha stares at her with squinted eyes.

Lena turns her head to look at Gabriel, “Got a one-pound coin?”

He pulls out his wallet and find not one but two one-pound coins, “Got two of them.”

“Perfect,” Lena quips and swipes them out of his palm before he can even react. She gets out of Angela’s lap, walks behind Ana and grabs Fareeha’s wrist, “Com’ere.” She pulls her back between the counter and the first row of tables and points to vinegar and oil bottle at the far end of the cafeteria next to the salad bar, “See those bottles?”

“Yes.” Fareeha jerks her arm out Lena’s grips and nods.

“Think you can hit one with this from here?” Lena holds one of the coins with two fingers in front of Fareeha’s face.

“Maybe.” Fareeha is not really sure. It’s pretty far away.

“Give it a shot.” Lena offers her the coin, but just before Fareeha could take it, she pulls her arm away, “But if you miss and I hit, you must follow me around the base and do whatever I ask of you.”

“And if I hit and you miss?” Fareeha asks with crossed arms.

“I’ll play with you or something.” Lena shrugs. “You look pretty lonely.”

“Deal.” Fareeha offers a deal-sealing handshake.

“Deal.” Lena shakes hands and now hands Fareeha one of the two coins she got from Gabriel.

Fareeha takes it and takes her stance. She is holding the coin between her thumb and index finger and swing her arm with all her strength, “HA!” But as it initially seemed like it’s going to make it, the coin lost his momentum and flew to the side. “Damn it.” She curses.

“Language, little lady.” Ana scolds her when she hears her.

“Sorry.” Fareeha is quick to apologize.

“Move, kid.” Lena nudges her away from the throwing spot. “Let me show you something.” She grins and winds her arm to only half the length that Fareeha did, “The trick to tossing coins,” and holds the coin in a way that its edge is hugged by her index finger while holding it there with her thumb. “is that you give it a spin and,” she whips her arm faster than Fareeha did, “toss it at an angle.” And the coin leaves her arm, drawing a diagonal arc through the air and a clank is heard when it hits the vinegar bottle. To add the insult to injury, it falls into a glass that was just before the bottle. Fareeha’s jaw would hit the floor and her eyes would pop out of their sockets if they could as she stares blankly at the results. Lena looks at Reinhardt who with half the people in the cafeteria watched them, “Say it, Reinhardt.” and beams him a wide smile.

“You won, little one.” He guesses correctly what she wants him to say.

“Yet another victory for Lena!” she quips and breaks into what she later explains is The Charleston. She gets so engrossed into it when some of the nearest sitting soldiers start to clap to the rhythm that she fails to notice Gabriel standing up and walking towards her.

“You done?” He asks with a quirked eyebrow and crossed arms, standing right next to her.

“Bloody ‘ell!” she quips when she gets startled and meaty slap is heard when her fist impacts Gabriel’s palm as he intercepted her punch.

“Up to continue your tour?” He pointed towards the exit over his shoulder. “You did mention that you are in a bit of a hurry.” And lets go of Lena’s fist.

“Oh, right.” She remembers that she wants to watch the match tonight. “Yeah,” nods and they walk towards the exit, Lena waving goodbye to Reinhardt, Jesse, Ana, and Angela. Fareeha trots close behind upholding the deal they made. Spotting her, “I’ll cash in on that some other day. Go back to your mom.” Lena shoos her away with her hand. Hearing that, Fareeha spins around and runs back to Ana.

“Well, where to?” Gabriel asks when she is done with that and returns to his side.

“The hush-hush squad barracks?” Lena asks carefully.

“You want to see my squad?” Gabriel is surprised by her request.

“Mhm.” Lena nods as fast as she can.

“Okay,” he only shrugs and they walk out of the cafeteria with their next destination decided.


	9. Hush-hush squad sleeping quarters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “Gotcha.” Lena nods firmly and takes hold of the rifle. She fumbles with it a bit, then takes a few steps away from the bed and properly shoulders it, aiming at the wall that Connors designated as a safe zone. Not moving an inch, she shouts, “Hey Gabe, look what I got!!!”
> 
> \-----

After a short walk, Gabriel and Lena reach one of the big rooms that serve sleeping quarters. Used to be a big storage room and each of the personnel got their own room, a bunk bed for two at most, but Gabriel decided that Blackwatch squads don’t need those and he repurposed one big storage room in every Watchpoint into one big room for his men. He sleeps with them too. Only has a small private room for his office and even that is usually next door. Of course, the rooms are separated into two halves because of genders but only a big curtain acts as a border. It makes them a more closely knit team, he argues every time when Jack or Ana bring up the issue. His men never complain. He and Lena enter the room and as soon as the first of his men spotted him, he jumps out of his, stands at attention and shouts, “Officer on deck!!!” Gabriel would usually wait for them to get ready but this time he has a guest with him, “As you were, but listen up.” And waves his arms, gesturing that they can continue doing what they were doing before he walked in. “Today I brought I guest with me.” He points at Lena with his arm. “I know how you assholes can get, but behave.” That comment gets him a round of laughter.

“Did she meet Jesse yet?” one of them asks as he leans over the rail on his top bunk bed and looks at her.

“She did,” Gabriel laughs, “and chewed his ass up for his cowboy getup.”

“Don’t forget I swiped his gun and he didn’t even realize it until I pointed it out,” Lena adds as she walks along the middle of the room, her head on a swivel, looking for something of interest.

“Lena,” Gabriel facepalms, “you know you just buried Jesse?”

“What?” she freezes on the spot then spins around and looks at him with wide eyes, thinking she did something horribly wrong.

“Not like that,” Gabriel chuckles. “It’s just that these guys,” he gestures to the entire room, “will never let him live that down.”

“He wears a bloody cowboy hat,” Lena rolls her eyes and returns to walking, “if that didn’t kill him, this won’t either.” She crosses the border to the women part of the room. “Uuuuuu,” she exhales and bolts towards one of the beds. “That looks so cool.” She comments as she leans closer over the edge of the bed.

“What did she find?” Gabriel shouts from the other side of the room. Not even he dares to cross to this part of it without checking if the women are decent. Which by his personal experience, rarely are while they are on R&R. He did that mistake only once and barely got away with his life. If you think that men of Blackwatch are badass, you haven’t met the women yet.

“Just me cleaning my rifle, sir.” One of them shouts back when she realizes that it’s her that Lena is paying attention to.

“Connors? Gun in sleeping quarters again?” Gabriel sighs.

“With all due respect, sir. I am never leaving my baby with those morons in maintenance again. Last time I left it there, my sights were so off I didn’t hit shit during the mission.” She replies.

Gabriel looks around the beds for any support from his men but they just shrug. “Didn’t have that problem yet. But she is the best sniper we have.” One of them adds.

“Fine, Connors,” he relents. “but no live ammo. Understood?”

“But isn’t that…” Lena flicks her head at a box that is poking out from underneath the bed.

Connors put her index finger over her lips, “Sssssh.” Then replies to Gabriel, “Understood, sir. No live ammo.”

“If you let me hold it,” Lena smirks.

“You sure?” she asks as she flicks the bolt closed. “It’s quite heavy.”

“Yep.” Lena nods and winks, “I’m stronger than I look.”

“Okay,” Connors shrugs and hands the rifle that is as long as Lena is tall over to her, then points at the wall on the opposite end from the entrance, “That’s the safe zone.”

“Safe zone?” Lena knits her brow and stops her arms just before she could grab the rifle. It sounds important to her.

“Yeah,” she nods, “A zone where you can aim at, to check the firing mechanism. Loaded or not, you never aim a firearm at someone you don’t plan to shoot.”

“Gotcha.” Lena nods firmly and takes hold of the rifle. She fumbles with it a bit, then takes a few steps away from the bed and properly shoulders it, aiming at the wall that Connors designated as a safe zone. Not moving an inch, she shouts, “Hey Gabe, look what I got!!!”

That triggers another round of laughs but he doesn’t think it’s funny. Neither is the fact that Lena is holding a weapon. “Connors!!!”

“Hey,” she pokes her head from behind the curtain. “Look, she even holds it properly and obeys the safe zone rule.”

“We are gonna have a little chat once I’m done with her tour.” He growls at her and they are all well aware what those are like so her eyes go wide and she ducks back behind the cover.

Lena heard it all, so she gently lowered the rifle back on Connors bed then walks straight to Gabriel and stops a step away. When he looks at her, she gestures that he kneels down. He does. Next, she wraps her arms around his neck, “Don’t punish her, please. She just wanted me to have some fun.” And whispers into his ear squeezing her hug a bit.

“But she can’t just give a weapon to a kid.” He argues and wraps his arms around Lena.

“Please, dad.” Lena nuzzles into his neck, not fully realizing what she just called him.

“I-I’m not your dad.” He chokes and pulls her away but keeps hold of her.

“Oh, shit.” Lena goes wide-eyed and clamps her mouth with her hands. “Sorry,” she lowers her head, “I don’t have one and you are just so cool, it sort of got away from me. Sorry.” And sniffles a bit.

“It’s okay, Lena.” He smiles and wipes a tear that manages to escape her with his thumb. “Just caught me by surprise. Okay, I won’t punish her. How’s that?” He lets go of her but holds his arms open wide, inviting her in for a hug.

She jumps right at it, “You’re the coolest!!!” and quips with a cheerful voice, arms back around his neck.

“Awww,” echoes across the room.

“Shut it,” both Lena and Gabriel start but finish differently, “you twats.” “maggots.” They look at each other and start laughing, joined by the rest of the room.


	10. The tour ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “Hey, cutie,” Connors flips up her visor and nods a greeting to a wide-eyed and smiling Lena. “Hop on.” And taps the seat behind her.
> 
> “Wot?” Lena knits her brow and looks at Gabriel.
> 
> \-----

After they had a few more laughs with Blackwatch squad, Gabriel leads Lena to a few more places in the Watchpoint but she never shows the same energy she had in cafeteria and the squads sleeping quarters so when he asked if she is ready to finish the tour, a big yawn that escaped her answered that for him and he told her to wait for him back in the atrium. Lena was tapping her leg at an increasingly faster pace while glancing at the clock as it mercilessly approached the time where she needs to leave in order to catch the match. The doors open with a windy woosh and she snaps her head towards it and sees Gabriel walking through it with a grin on his face and a paper bag in his hand. “’bout time you showed up.” She jumps to her feet.

“What’s the rush?” He asks as he walks closer.

“The match. The match.” Lena stomps closer to him, hands balled in fists on her hips.

“Oh, right,” he slaps his forehead, “Forgot about that. Sorry. Anyway, here’s a little goodies bag,” he offers her the bag he is holding. “Just some small things for you to remember us.” He comments when she takes the bag and takes a quick peek in it. “And I noticed you like pins.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls one out. “Would you like one like this?” He shows her a pin with a Blackwatch logo.

“Uuuu!” Lena’s eyes shine, “Is that the hush-hush squad logo? Yeah, I want it! Pin it on me.” And she puffs out her chest and points to a spot on her jacket where she wants him to pin it.

He kneels down, and after pressing a well-hidden button on the back of it, he secures the pin in place where she pointed out, “There you go. All set.”

Lena let’s go of the bag and takes the opportunity of him kneeling down to wrap her arms around his neck, “Thank you, Mr. Reyes. For everything.”

He returns the hug, “Glad you had fun.” After a moment, they separate and he stands back up. “I hope this improved your opinion of us.” He comments while she picks up the bag again.

“About Overwatch and the boy scout, just this much,” Lena shows him a tiny gap between her thumb and her index finger then taps his chest with the back of her palm while giving him a sidelong look, grinning, “I always thought you were cool in the first place and your squad is just as cool.”

“Glad to hear that,” Gabriel smiles then knits his brow. “How are you getting back home though? Isn’t it across town from here?”

“I would usually just run for it,” Lena shrugs, “but I’m in a bit of hurry right now. So, if you can borrow me your phone I’ll call someone.” And wants to call the police officer for a pickup.

But Gabriel has a different idea, “Actually, I might be able to help you in a different way.” And pulls out some sort of communication device that Lena hasn’t seen yet. “Connors, suit up and bring the bike up front.”

“What, why?” Lena overhears her response.

“Because instead of punishing you, you will just get Lena home,” Gabriel tells her. “And bring an extra helmet with you.”

“The cutie that was just here?” she responds with a cheery tone. “Right away, sir.” And Lena can hear her jumping out of bed before the line cuts. And both she and Gabriel laugh a bit at that.

He walks her outside and they wait for Connors just beyond the ramp. After a minute Lena hears a low rumble from her right and when she looks that way she can see a bulky black motorcycle with red details in all the right places with a driver that wears a suit in the same colors. Her eyes and her smile got wider and wider as it closes in. “Wow!” she exhales. “So cool!”

“Hey, cutie,” Connors flips up her visor and nods a greeting to a wide-eyed and smiling Lena. “Hop on.” And taps the seat behind her.

“Wot?” Lena knits her brow and looks at Gabriel.

“Your chariot awaits, m’ lady.” Who bows and gesture at the bike with his arm and shoots Lena a wink.

“Cheeky git,” Lena playfully punches his shoulder then runs towards the bike and grabs the arm that Connors offered and with her help, flips herself up on the bike.

“Helmet.” Connors points towards a cargo box behind Lena. She reaches back, pulls it out and puts it on. “Arms here.” She then guides Lena’s arms around her waist. Good thing Lena already placed the paper bag between them so it stays there. “Ready?”

“Mr. Reyes,” Lena looks at him, “Thanks again, for everythiiiiiii---” The last part gets choked out by the noise of the bike and the distance they gain when Connors turns the throttle all the way and they speed away.

Gabriel waves his arm in goodbye while pulling his coms back out of his pocket, “O’Reilly.”

“Sir?” He responds.

“Put a tag on Lena Oxton in the system. If she ever hits the grid, I want to know about it.” Gabriel orders his intelligence officer with a stern tone and walks back inside the Watchpoint.

“Right away, sir.”

Just before he enters the building, he stops and looks in the direction where Lena and Connors drove off to, ‘ _You might not realize it, Lena, but you made some powerful friends today._ ’ He grins and enters the atrium then continues on to his office.


	11. Are you leaving, love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “Aren’t you a ray of sunshine today.” Father Winston smiles when he sees her bouncing through the hallway.
> 
> “Good day, Father,” Lena jumps at him and hugs him. “Just had an awesome day.”
> 
> \-----

Emily was busy folding her clothes and setting them in order on her bed. Shirts one pile, pants another, underwear the third and so on when she heard a motorcycle’s engine roar as it closed in then stopped in front of the orphanage and is now only rumbling lowly as the driver put it into idle. Curious who might it be she takes a look through her window that overlooks the street. “Figures,” she smiles when she sees Lena climbing off the motorcycle. A woman wearing a black and red suit is helping her but Emily then remembers something, “Damn. Thought I had more time.” She curses and jumps back to putting her clothes on piles.

 

“Thanks for the ride,” Lena thanks Connors when she has solid ground under her feet, “Loved every second of it.” And flashes her a big grin.

“Glad you liked it,” Connors nods, smiling underneath her helmet. Only her eyes tell Lena that she is indeed glad. “And you’re welcome, cutie. I’ll come by if I’m ever in this part of town.”

“Yeah,” Lena’s smile stretches even wider, “We can go for a longer ride or watch a match or something.”

“Sure thing, cutie,” Connors ruffles Lena’s hair a bit then closes down her visor, “Gotta bounce now, though, so later.” And gives Lena a two finger salute then puts the bike into gear and drives off into the traffic. Lena waves in goodbye for as long she can see her then spins around and heads inside.

 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Emily curses and rushes putting her clothes into suitcases. “Would you,” she puts her entire weight on one that refuses to close properly and she can’t lock the clasps. She decides that it’s too full and opens, pulls out two pairs of pants and smacks it close, “For the love of…FUUUUUCK!!!” she curses loudly when she smashes the lid right on top of her palm which is now pulsing with pain.

 

Lena is greeting everyone she meets on her way with a wide smile and a happy skip in her step. “Aren’t you a ray of sunshine today.” Father Winston smiles when he sees her bouncing through the hallway.

“Good day, Father,” Lena jumps at him and hugs him. “Just had an awesome day.” He returns the hug and when they separate, Lena starts to rummage through her paper bag, “Where is it? I know I saw it in here.” 

“What are you looking for?” he asks.

“One sec,” she responds then finds the item she was looking for. “Aha! Here it is.” She quips and pulls out a bottle of whiskey. “Mr. Reyes probably meant this for you.” She offers it to him and adds, “I’m too young to drink after all.” With a big smile.

“You are indeed,” he scruffs her hair a bit, getting a cute giggle from her for his efforts and takes the bottle from her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lena responds and, “Is Emily in her room?” asks as she runs past him and up the stairs that lead to the floor where their rooms are.

“She is, but…” he says and wants to add something but Lena never caught that last part.

 

“That’s her.” Emily sighs when she hears the footsteps of someone running up the stairs. “Alright, Emily. You got this.” She smacks her cheeks and takes a deep breath to psyche herself up. “Just give it to her straight. She will understand.”

She just finished that when the doors fly open, hinges barely keeping them attached to the frame. “Heya, love!!!” Lena shouts when she jumps through the doorway then freezes like a deer caught in headlights when she sees the state of Emily’s room. Gone are the posters from the wall. The sheets folded at the end of her bed. Her closet’s doors open and it's empty. What’s supposed to be in there is probably in those suitcases next to Emily’s feet. “Love? Are you going somewhere?” Lena asks, fearing the worst but still clinging to hope that this might mean something different.

“I am.” Emily answers with a soft, barely audible voice. She can see it in Lena’s eyes. The fear, the sadness.

“For how long?” Lena asks, her voice trembling. She thinks of reaching towards Emily, but changes her mind and pulls back her arm.

“For good.” Emily’s voice shakes too.

Something clicks in Lena’s head. She takes a deep breath and wipes the welling tears that threatened to spill, away. Then looks at Emily, “Okay.” Her tone now flat. Eyes lost all the light. She robotically reaches into her bag, pulls out a photo where she is in the center of it, with Gabriel and the rest of the hush-hush squad around her. Wide smiles on all of them. “Here,” she offers it to Emily. “Something to remember me.”

“Lena,” Emily is on the verge of tears, but when she reaches over to cup Lena’s cheek, it gets swatted away.

“I’ll put it here then.” Lena lowered the photo on top of one of the suitcases. Then spins around and wants to walk away. But Emily jumps at her and wraps her in a hug. Lena tries to wriggle out, but can’t put any strength into it.

“I promise I’ll write.” Emily squeezes her hug, tears now flowing freely.

“You better,” Lena lets hers flow too and she manages to spin around and return the hug, squeezing as hard as she can. “At least once a month.” She sniffles into Emily’s shoulder.

“I promise.” Emily nods. “This is not a goodbye,” Lena looks up and their eyes meet, knitting her brow as she wonders what else could it be. “It’s a see you later.” Emily winks, doing her best to smile. 

Lena tries to smile too, “Of course it’s that, love.” only halfway making it. They stay hugged and enjoy the moment, closing their eyes. Their breathing calming down. 

A soft knock on the door wakes them from their world. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but they are waiting for you, Emily,” Sister says in a gentle, soft voice, realizing full well how they feel about each other.

“Khm,” Emily clears her throat, “Right.” She pulls out her cloth tissue and tries to wipe her face of tear trails but Lena stops her hand.

“Let me,” she offers and gently pulls the tissue out of her palm then even more gently starts to wipe Emily’s face. “All done.” She says, her voice trembling again and wants to pull her hand away but Emily grabs it.

She kisses the knuckles, “I’ll miss you.” And nuzzles into Lena’s palm, closing her eyes.

“I’ll miss you too, Em.” Lena caresses her cheek with her thumb, “So much.” Then when Emily lets go of her hand she uses the tissue to wipe her face too and after she pockets it, she grabs two of the four suitcases, “Let’s get you on your way.”

“You don’t have to, Lena.” Sister tries to intervene, knowing that it will only make it harder on her.

“No,” but Lena stubbornly shakes her head, “I got this. I have to have this.” And a fire of determination burns in her eyes when she looks at Sister. But her legs got a different idea and she crumbles on her knees. “Heh,” she lets out a sad laugh. “Guess not.” The emotional drain, coupled with all the excitement from visiting the Overwatch HQ hits her all at once and she flops lifelessly on the floor.

“Lena!” Emily jumps towards her and wants to shake her awake but Sister stops her.

“No,” she gently shakes her head. “She’s okay. Just fell asleep. Look,” and points out a big smile on Lena’s face.

“You little git,” Emily smiles and ruffles her hair while Sister picks her up and cradles her in her arms, “scaring me like that.”

“I’ll get her to bed.” Sister whispers, “You bring your things downstairs.”

“Okay,” Emily first picks up the photo, folds it and pockets it then grabs the two suitcases that Lena wanted to carry for her, “Better wake her for the match or she will never forgive you.” She chuckles softly, careful not to wake Lena up. Sister nods with a small smile and they both head to their chosen destinations.


	12. See you later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “What about the match?” Sister asks because that’s the reason she woke her.
> 
> “Still got an hour until it starts, right?” Lena pokes her head back through her doorway after she already ran inside.
> 
> \-----

Like she promised to Emily as she insisted that she does so before she left, Sister gently shakes Lena, “Hey, Lena. Wake up. The match is about to begin.”

“Mmm,” Lena grunts then shoots upright, “Emily!” Sister who was leaning over her only dodges her by a hairs width. 

“Lena,” she gently calls but it’s useless. Lena already threw the blanket off of herself and bolted through the doors in nothing but her underwear.

She makes a beeline for Emily’s room but finds the doors locked. “Em, love. Open up!” she bangs on the doors with her fist. Absolutely sure that Emily leaving was only a really bad dream. “EMILY!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!” she shouts on top of her lungs. “Alright,” she stops hitting the door with her fists and takes a step away. “If that’s how you want to play it.”

“Lena,” Sister gently calls. “Stop. She is gone.”

But Lena completely ignores her. “Em, move away from the doors.” She readies her leg and kicks with everything she’s got, aiming right next to the doorknob. It works and the doors swing open. The lock demolished. But when she walks in, the reality hits her. The room is empty. Blankets and the pillow folded at the end of the bed. Closet empty. Like no one ever lived in it. Like her best friend was the dream part. “Emily,” she collapses on her knees. And wails on top of her lungs, “EMILY!!!”

Sister follows her in and gently wraps her arms around her. “Oh, Lena.”

“WHY!?!?! Did I do something wrong? Why did you leave, Emily?” Lena continues to cry her eyes out.

“Hey, Lena,” Sister gently cups her cheek and moves her head so she looks into her eyes. “You did nothing wrong. Emily just got adopted.”

“But why?” she asks. “She told me she will never leave me.”

“I don’t know the answer to that. But,” Sister pulls an envelope out of her pocket and shows it to Lena, “maybe this does. She left it for you.”

“For me?” Lena sniffles, calming down a bit.

“Yes.” Sister tries to smile, but it breaks her heart to see Lena so sad. She manages to smile when she sees Lena do what she always did best. Getting right back to her feet, wiping her tears with her hands and after one more loud sniffle, she beams her a smile. If Lena was great at anything, it was that she never stayed down for long. She always gets up and powers on. Now she is asking for the envelope with her arm and Sister is all too happy to oblige. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” Lena thanks her, gives her a quick hug then runs past her. “Gonna be in my room if anyone needs me.”

“What about the match?” Sister asks because that’s the reason she woke her.

“Still got an hour until it starts, right?” Lena pokes her head back through her doorway after she already ran inside.

“That’s right.” Sister nods and closes the doors of the empty room. ‘ _She really did a number on the lock. The whole door will need replacing._ ’ She looks at the lock. Metal twisted beyond repair. Wood splintered to pieces. She wants to inform Lena of the damage but the shutting and the locking of her room’s doors tell her that this couldn’t be further from her mind right now.

And she is right. Lena skips to her bed and sits on it cross-legged. “Alright, Em. Let’s see what you want to tell me.” And carefully opens it and pulls out the letter.

_Hey, Lena,_

_if you are reading this, it means I’m no longer next to you. I know what I said the other day. That I’ll never leave your side and this puts me to a lie. I’m sorry. So very much._

_But, hey, cheer up like you always do, okay? We will write to each other once a month and once we get independent enough to live on our own, you know, jobs, money, knowledge and all that, we will meet again and this whole thing will be a memory we laugh at while sipping tea on a couch watching telly. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? I think so too. And that is why I took this lovely couple up on their offer to take me as their adoptive daughter._

_Yes, you are reading this the right way. I care about you more than just a friend and always will, so this can be a promise I make to you. We will definitely meet again._

_Now go and show the rest of the world that brilliantly shining light that you carry with you._

_See you later,_

_Forever yours, Emily Flynn_

_PS: If you ever get the offer, give Overwatch a shot, will you? You are already my hero._

 

Lena hugs the letter tightly to her chest, tears flowing down her cheeks from her closed eyes but a gentle smile is joining them, “You idiot. You knew all along. I’ll miss you every second we are apart. Stay safe. And,” she opens her eyes and looks at the ceiling, “see you later.”


	13. We are on a cruise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> “You’re welcome, love,” Lena responds to her first then looks back at Emily. “See,” she grins. “No Talon for miles.”
> 
> “You cheeky little…” Emily scruffs her hair, getting a cute giggle from Lena for her efforts. 
> 
> ‘ _I’ve missed you so much, Lena. All that time we were apart._ ’ Emily remembers the time when she was adopted and got separated from Lena.
> 
> \-----

“Aaand, done.” Lena puts in that last quotation mark, saves her work and flops back in her beach chair as she exhales loudly and lets her arms fall by her sides. 

Emily who was working on her tan stretched out on a beach chair next to her, hears it and it gets her attention. “What have you be working on all this time?” she asks and lifts up to lean closer and see what Lena has been typing all this time. She skims over the last part and, “Awww, babe, this is…” she melts and hugs Lena. Suddenly she jolts and remembers something, surprising Lena as she bolts below deck only to return a few moments later holding a photo. “I think this is a good place to add this at the end.” She shows it to Lena.

“You…” Lena stutters, her eyes watering, her sight flicking between the photo to Emily. “You kept it all these years?” It’s the photo of her and Gabriel in the center with the rest of Blackwatch around them that was taken when she visited Overwatch for the first time.

“Of course I did,” Emily answers and it’s time for another hug.

“Can you two stop being ga-” a Spanish accented voice that comes from the upper deck wants to complain but stops mid-sentence when she sees the photo. “Dios mio! Gabe looks so young there.” She pulls out one of her purple screens and makes a copy of her own. “Hey, araña!” she runs to the other side of and now shows that copy to fourth out of five people on board. “Look how Gabe looks here!”

“He was quite handsome,” the so-called araña, responds, only opening one eye a bit as she was lying on one of the beach chairs and soaking up some rays too.

“What are you-” a raspy male voice wants to ask but stops mid-sentence when a purple screen pops up in front of his face and he sees it too. “Oh. Where did you pull that one out from, Oxton?”

“I didn’t,” Lena defends. “Emily kept it all this time.”

“Mrs. Flynn, thank you.” He thanks her. “I have some fond memories of that time. Of that day especially.”

“You’re welcome Gabriel,” Emily thanks, adding, “and call me Emily already. Calling me Mrs. Flynn makes me feel old.” She then looks at Lena, “Not sure Winston or anyone else would approve of you working with Talon, sweet.”

“Talon? Where?!” Lena mocks being shocked and looks around herself. When she looks back Emily, a half smile and a raised eyebrow greeted her. “Fine. Gabe, you Talon?”

“No.” he answers right away.

“Olivia?” Lena asks her next.

“Never was, rápida.” She shakes her head.

“And you, gorgeous?” Lena asks and by how she addressed her, everyone knows who she means.

“Non. And I wish I never was. Merci for helping me get out.” She responds, only moving her head so she can look at them.

“You’re welcome, love,” Lena responds to her first then looks back at Emily. “See,” she grins. “No Talon for miles.”

“You cheeky little…” Emily scruffs her hair, getting a cute giggle from Lena for her efforts. 

‘ _I’ve missed you so much, Lena. All that time we were apart._ ’ Emily remembers the time when she was adopted and got separated from Lena. 

 

For a while, they kept in contact by letters, mail and when possible phone calls. Emily’s adoptive parents were very busy and they traveled around the whole world. But despite being constantly on the move, she was happy. She studied what she liked and her adoptive parents only helped as they were already experts in that field. They never stopped or forbade her of contacting Lena and even went as far as arranging fast deliveries for her letters and made sure that the returned one always found their way to her. They supported her every step of the way and she grew fond of them. But there is a saying that _all good things come to an end_ for a reason. It all started one evening when a man in a suit came to visit their current residence in Sydney where they stopped so Emily’s parents could conduct business in that part of the world. She only caught a glance at him then was ushered to her bedroom by her mom and told to stay there until their visitor leaves. She heard a lot of shouting and the man only relented and left when the authorities arrived. Since then, her parents became very wary of their surroundings but after a week they calmed down and fell back into their usual routine. Wake up, go to a meeting or two, come back home for lunch then spend the afternoon writing reports or working on new designs yet even as busy as that they always took time to be with her. Help her with her studies or even ask her for ideas and opinion for something new they worked on. ‘ _We old farts are too set in our ways. A fresh young mind is a must when it comes to coming up with new things._ ’ Her father always said with a smile and a wink when she asked how could she possibly help them when they are leagues above her. 

Emily still remembers it clearly how she woke up that morning feeling all kinds of wrong. Not sick or weak. Just wrong. Like something was in the air. She wanted to voice her thoughts to her parents but when she saw their faces glowing with happiness when she came down to the kitchen to eat breakfast that her mother, despite her packed schedule, always took time to prepare for them, she changed her mind and put on a smile. It was their last day there. They packed their things the day before and now they were putting the suitcases into the trunk of the car and headed towards the airport. They were driving along the highway, singing along a tune that was playing on the radio with big smiles on their faces and it was when they reached an overpass when that bad feeling she pushed down in the morning, hits her like a ton of bricks. She snaps her head to the lane on her right only to see a black sedan driven by a man who was staring right at them. Next, he grins wickedly and first steers away from them then sharply back into them. She barely had the time to yell for her father when the black sedan smashed into them, pushing them into and over the crash barrier. She could see the ground below closing fast then it was lights out for her.


	14. Emily meets Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \-----
> 
> A scene flashes in Emily’s mind. She sees a black car ramming into the side of theirs and the wicked grin on the driver. “It wasn’t an accident.” Emily interrupts the woman, clenching her teeth.
> 
> “I think so too.” The woman nods then continues. “But that’s not important right now. What is, is that both of your parents were killed on the spot.”
> 
> Another image flashes in Emily’s mind. But it shows her a priest and a sister. And a bunch of other children. “Parents? I’m an orphan.”
> 
> \-----

A beeping sound that’s coming from her right and is in sync with the pounding in her ears wake Emily up. She wants to open her eyes but it’s a struggle. Her eyelids feel like they were made from lead. After a few attempts, she manages a small gap but regrets it instantly because what little light hits her eyes, it causes sharp pain and she closes them shut right away. Recoiling from pain, she wants to reach for her face but her arms are restrained and after some attempts, she realizes that so are the rest of her limbs. Left with little choice, she tries opening her eyes again. Even slower this time. She blinks rapidly to give her eyes time to adjust to the light and it works. Once her vision focuses enough she sees a white ceiling and now that her other senses are waking up too she notices the smell of antiseptic. “I’m in a hospital? Why?” Her voice comes out hoarse and weak. Trying to remember why would she be in a hospital sends a jolt of pain through her head and no matter how she fights it, she can’t remember anything else besides her name and another face but she can’t remember that person’s name. It’s a girl and only remembering her face calms Emily down. Why is that, she can’t remember. Her attempts at moving and speaking didn’t go unnoticed by the hospital staff. The instruments attached to her probably notified them about her waking up too. Emily hears steps of two people walking into the room she is in and a nurse, accompanied by a doctor come into her line of sight next.

“How are you feeling, dear?” the doctor asks with a gentle voice, her eyes flicking between Emily, the nurse, and the instruments.

“Alive?” Emily answers because she can’t remember a better word.

“Do you know where you are?” the doctor asks next. The nurse that came with her is busy unhooking the instruments after confirming with the doctor that Emily no longer needs them.

“From the smell of it, hospital,” Emily answers again. Her voice now normalizing.

“Good, good. More accurately you are in the main hospital in Sydney, Australia. Now, can you tell me your name.” The doctor smiles gently and nods, writing some notes in her datapad.

“Emily and before you ask anything else, that’s all,” Emily tells her.

“What do you mean by that is all?” The doctor quirks an eyebrow her look now serious. Emily’s addition to her response not making her happy one bit.

“As I said. I can’t remember anything but my name and face of some girl but I can’t remember her name either.” Emily answers with a sad tone.

“Mhm. Amnesia. Not surprising but I hoped that it wouldn’t happen.” The doctor hums and rushes writing down more notes. After she finished she puts the pad away, gently squeezes Emily hand and leans closer, “Emily, dear, you were in a car accident. A bad one. We didn’t find any serious injuries but you took quite a blow to your head. You were in a coma for a month.”

While the doctor is telling her this, images flash in Emily’s head and a throbbing pain that accompanies it with every flash makes her squeeze her eyes shut. She can’t make any sense of them but feels that they are important so she doesn’t fight them. The doctor goes quiet and the flashes stop too. “Doc,” Emily opens her eyes again and looks at her. “Why am I bound?”

“Ah,” the doctor exhales. “We will get rid of those as soon as we do some quick tests to check if you have any spinal injuries we couldn’t detect, okay? Just to be sure.” She flashes a gentle smile which causes Emily’s lips to stretch into one as well.

“Understood.” She blinks in response after her attempt to nod was stopped by restraints around her head. The doctor makes those tests right away and after she is satisfied with the results she and nurse take away the restraints. The rest of the medical instruments are removed as well. After she had some soup for what appears to be her first meal in a month, Emily relaxes in her bed. Her muscles too weak to allow her to even sit up, let alone stand or walk. A woman walks into her room and judging by her bright colored hair, a flashy one-piece dress and rough looking boots that nearly reach her knees, she is definitely not hospital’s staff. The combination of the three looked so mismatched and so ridiculous that Emily bursts into a laughing fit when she sees her.

“Glad to see you in a cheerful mood.” The woman smiles. Her voice thick with a very specific accent that Emily knows she heard before but can’t place it. “Doc tells me you have a nasty case of amnesia.” She walks closer and pulls a chair closer to the bed then sits down. “I wish there was an easy way to tell you this but there isn’t. So I’ll just give it to you straight.” Picking up on the seriousness of what she is about to tell her in her tone, Emily stops laughing and nods for her to continue. “Like the doc told you, you were in a car crash. If it was an accident or not,”

A scene flashes in Emily’s mind. She sees a black car ramming into the side of theirs and the wicked grin on the driver. “It wasn’t an accident.” Emily interrupts the woman, clenching her teeth.

“I think so too.” The woman nods then continues. “But that’s not important right now. What is, is that both of your parents were killed on the spot.”

Another image flashes in Emily’s mind. But it shows her a priest and a sister. And a bunch of other children. “Parents? I’m an orphan.”

“Mmm,” the woman hums and taps her chin with her finger. “I can see your memory is coming back but not completely. You were adopted.”

That last word makes another memory to resurface in Emily’s mind. “Adopted? But what about Lena?” Caught by surprise by how she knows that name she asks, “Who is Lena?” It feels important, but she can’t remember why.

Seeing the expression on Emily’s face, woman lightly squeezes with her hand to get her attention again and when she looks at her, “I’m sorry. I don’t know who she is either. But I knew your parents and they asked me to take care of you if something was to happen to them.”

“And you are?” Emily asks because even if she feels that this woman is not a threat to her, she still didn’t introduce herself.

“Ah,” she exhales and smacks her forehead with her free hand. “I’m sorry, it totally slipped my mind. I’m Queen.”


End file.
